The 15th annual Ocean Village/Boatshed Gibraltar-Morocco Yacht Rally, which took place over the long 12th June Bank Holiday weekend, has tripled the charity money raised last year and amassed £6,780.60 for Gibraltar Red Cross. The organising committee, newly in place for 2015, is to be praised for this immense achievement.

Karl Bisset, pier master of Ocean Village Marina said, “Ocean Village Marina has been hosting and sponsoring the Gibraltar-Morocco Rally for many years and it has gone from strength to strength. Not only did the fundraising considerably beat all previous records, but there was also a more-than 30% increase in the number of yachts taking part, with over a third of them non-locally-based. It was our pleasure to welcome these newcomers to Ocean Village Marina. Long may ‘the most sociable yacht rally in the world’ continue.”

Participants enjoyed near perfect sailing conditions at this year’s Rally, although conditions were reportedly a little challenging for some of the smaller boats. All crew reported seeing friendly dolphins with some schools having well over a hundred members. Meanwhile, several yachts returning on the Sunday afternoon were treated to the sight of a pod of fin whales just east of Gibraltar.

At the Rally’s post-event party on Saturday 20th June, founder John Alcantara thanked all participants, the organising committee, headline sponsors Ocean Village and Boatshed Gibraltar, and main sponsors for their generous support. Another 20 sponsors enabled the organising committee to source prizes, many of which were auctioned or raffled to raise funds for the charity.

John concluded, “This event represents the core fabric of the Gibraltar yachting scene. It just shows that with good planning, marketing and support, together we can raise sizeable funds for charity and have a fabulous weekend of sailing and social activities.”